New Lilies
by Inside Lines
Summary: The emotion-driven quest through time of a girl named Sayuri, who has forsaken the only family she ever knew for a chance to save the family she never had. A certain miko mother and a certain hanyou father, to be precise… Rated for mild language so
1. A Chance?

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or anything having to do with that series. Darn. I do, however, own the character(s) I made up for this story, so no touchy.  
  
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New Lilies  
  
By Alexa Gray  
  
Ch. 1  
  
The boy strode into the building confidently, sloppily cut black hair in a high ponytail and a small smile on his face. Or perhaps it wasn't a smile at all, only the perpetual cheerfulness adhered to the teenager's countenance. He carried a strangely long bag slung over his shoulder that would reach to his waist from the ground. Flickering and glowing from time to time, his eyes resembled green fire.  
  
He approached two men having a heated conversation about something that seemed important. After studying them both, he addressed the one that seemed in charge during a lull in the argument.  
  
"Excuse me, sir."  
  
The man, looking about forty or so and not in such a good mood, turned to him annoyedly. "Yes?" he replied in a voice that dripped condescension.  
  
"I am looking for a job. You see-"  
  
"No jobs open." He went back to his partner.  
  
The other one seemed interested, however, and asked the boy, "What sort of job?"  
  
He grinned inside. He could get somewhere with this one. "Any one you have."  
  
"You said we were a man short," he reminded Leader Man.  
  
"I said a man." he reminded Nice Man.  
  
"I'm fourteen," the boy said honestly.  
  
"I don't know." Leader Man considered him. "You look awfully soft, kid. Are you sure you can handle the kind of work we do around here?"  
  
"I assure you, sir, I am the hardest boy you'll ever meet!" he boasted, hoping that he took pity on the poor idiot he seemed to be.  
  
An involuntary gesture caught Nice's eye, and he saw bandages wrapped around both of the boy's hands up to the fingertips. "What happened there?"  
  
"Oh." He looked at his hands as if he had forgotten they were there, and sighed. "Burns. My house burnt down with." he paused and looked at his feet. ".my family inside. I tried to get them out, but this is all I got," he finished, holding up his hands.  
  
"You poor boy." Nice said softly. He looked at Leader pleadingly, silently imploring him to have a heart.  
  
Leader looked guilty for a moment, then motioned for the boy to follow as he left through the back door. "Alright, you've got a job for today. Hey, what's your name?"  
  
"Katsu," he replied with a grin, not far behind.  
  
* * * * *  
  
The day was over, and Katsu was finished with his work. It had been a hot summer day, but he was only a little tired, not exhausted as he pulled of his clothes to bathe in a slow flowing river. First his outer clothes, including his 'bandages.' They came off easily to reveal perfectly healthy skin, along with a long claw at the tip of each finger. Then came the cloth wrapped tight around his chest that took some time to unravel. After a minute or so, it came off too, revealing something a little more than what is expected for a teenage boy.  
  
For you see, this Katsu was no boy. This Katsu was not even completely human. He was actually Sayuri, a part-demon girl.  
  
Sayuri sighed deeply as she sank into the river's liquid embrace, regretting the lies she had told to such kind people earlier. But it could not be helped. She consoled herself by telling herself that they would forget her tomorrow or the next day, that her story was just a push for them to hire her. It wasn't as if she used it as a begging story. 'But,' that voice insisted, 'it was a lie, and it was wrong.'  
  
Stupid voice. What did it know? 'The only reason you're able to give me guilt is because I feed you, buddy,' Sayuri told it smugly. With that, the cool water lost its pleasure and she had no choice but to leave it. The night's welcome was still present, though. After she had dried and dressed again, she built a fire in her little spot in the wood beneath the watching stars.  
  
"To dinner," she toasted herself, serving herself a bit of the bread and cheese she bought today. She made a sound of primal bliss as it slid down her throat, quieting her roaring stomach. She put most of it away in her bag for another day, and took the few steps to the river again.  
  
It was so calm. Not like her raging heart. She knew there was no way around concealing her true nature. If she revealed she was even part youkai, she would never be able to work in a village. If she revealed that she was a girl, she would be marked by bandits who thought her vulnerable, or worse.attractive. Not that she couldn't handle herself (for she often had to hide her strength among humans, just as she hid her claws), but she did not want to draw unwanted fights. Sayuri raged against something else. Why did she leave her home for this? Living day to day is no life. She had a mother and a father there, and even younger siblings. Even if they were not blood relatives, it was all she knew. Why would she give something that precious for some family she never knew, probably should never know? Even Sayuri herself couldn't completely understand it. But she thought it had something to do with the stories she knew of them. Her angel of a mother, and her hero of a father. Sayuri wanted to see these great people whose traits she possessed. But both the angel and hero had fallen. They were both dead.  
  
She wanted desperately to be like little Ume and Isamu, who didn't know how lucky they were to have someone to call Mama or Papa. But, from the stories, she knew that her mother was actually from the future, and she had traveled to this time through the old dry well in Inuyasha's Forest. So time travel was possible. Sayuri just had to find a way to go back about fourteen years to see them. Just to see them. Maybe, just maybe, (her heart jumped at the thought) meet them. Then she would return to her correct time with incredible satisfaction.  
  
Yes, it seemed to be a good plan. It was just that "finding a way" part that vexed her.  
  
Sayuri gazed into the dark water, surface only dimly lit by stars and fire. She let down her short hair around her face. That midnight color was from her mother, she knew from her adoptive mother, Sango. Her husband, Miroku, told her once that she simply looked like both her parents. Even though she had never seen them, somehow Sayuri didn't believe it. She searched her features now for something of father in her cheekbones, something of mother in her eyes. Maybe her father gave her long fingers?  
  
She struck the water in frustration, sending her reflection into bouncing and shaking chaos. Sayuri remembered Sango's voice as if she were sitting beside her with a hand on her shoulder instead of a nearly four year old memory. "Don't lose heart." She said that the day before Sayuri left, she remembered. Perhaps it was not such a good idea to leave so abruptly, and without even telling them beforehand.  
  
Sayuri shook her head. 'Regrets have no place with me.' She splashed water over the fire to put it out, and picked up her bag. She found handholds in a large tree nearby, and so began to scale it. Trees were marvelous protection, she had found, and besides that, they were somewhat comforting. They didn't waver or falter, no matter what came their way. Once she reached a good wide branch, she straddled it and leaned against the trunk. She quickly fell asleep.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Sayuri rose to dawn's blush in the sky, framed by sparse pink clouds. After yawning and stretching, the young inu-youkai dropped directly to the ground. She yawned again and ran her fingers through her hair. With a thud, her bag fell to the ground and she began searching for her hair tie. While she could pass for a boy with soft features, her hair being around her face would be too much. She finally found it and tied it up slowly, thinking of ponderous matters.  
  
She had journeyed for three years looking for youkai, human, or anyone to grant her impossible wish. But she had been sure that she would have succeeded in that time. 'Now I'm fourteen, and going to be fifteen this year. Maybe it's all been in vain.'  
  
Desolation rose within her, and she stared through her bag at its hidden cargo hungrily. Perhaps she could be with her parents not in this world, but in the next.  
  
It was then. It was then when her hope returned. She heard a small clink near her, and looked toward the source. There was a small, jeweled amulet on the ground, seemingly a gift from heaven. Sayuri looked up but saw only a shadow pass over her quickly. Her eyes followed it, and found an elegant violet-colored songbird perched in a high branch in a tree. It watched her. Sayuri was very startled by a bird trying to give her something, but she decided that if she truly wanted what she'd been looking for all this time, she had better take every opportunity. "What do you want?" she asked the bird. It merely glanced at the amulet, and back to the girl. Sayuri looked at it too, and picked it up. She turned again to the bird to see if it approved, but it was gone. She directed her attention again at the necklace, and found the gold chain delicate and finely made. The pendant was round and had a single, transparent jewel in the center. Sayuri guessed it must be a diamond, for she couldn't see the point in making such a lovely thing only to put glass in its heart. Turning it over in her hand, she noticed something exquisitely engraved on the back. 'Take this chance, my lily.' Sayuri blinked, and squeezed the amulet in a fist. She had the sudden urge to do something that she had tried many times before, but had failed each time. She ran toward it.  
  
She ran hard and fast through the forest, through the day and through the night. Her heart soared with anticipation and also a bit of fear. She couldn't know if she could trust the strange entity that gave her this chance, but she had to at least make an effort. Otherwise, she would forever wonder. Finally, when Sayuri became too exhausted to continue, she knew she reached her destination. The well.  
  
She walked up to it slowly, nervously. She had no idea why her head had been suddenly filled with thoughts of and the single desire to be here. Securing her bag on her shoulder, she leaned over the edge. All darkness. She tossed the necklace over her head, tucked it underneath her shirt, and jumped to the bottom without hesitation.  
  
The well was deeper than she thought. Sayuri fell for a few seconds, and landed neatly on her feet. Or, she thought she landed. It seemed that her feet traveled straight through the ground into water, and kept on falling. Sayuri yelped in surprise, but her voice was muddled and strange, as if she had screamed into her hands and the sound had echoed.  
  
She held tight to her bag and squeezed her eyes shut, but suddenly it was over, and she was standing in the dry well again. She couldn't control the wild, frenzied beating of her heart, and she wasn't sure she wanted to. The adrenaline pumping through her lifted her into the air as if she was nothing, and this time she really did land neatly on her feet outside the well. Sayuri looked up to see something she never expected.  
  
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Author's Note: Not really a cliffhanger, but I bet you want to know what happens next! If anyone is reading this, that is.Anyway, not to worry, since I am working on the next chapter as we speak. ^_^ By the way, Sayuri means 'small lily' in Japanese. My only sustenance is Inuyasha and my reviews, so please feed me! 


	2. Only Half of the Work Left

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or anything having to do with that series. Darn. I do, however, own the character(s) I made up for this story, so no touchy.  
  
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New Lilies  
  
By Alexa Gray  
  
Ch. 2  
  
Nothing happened. The clearing was just as green, just as bright, just as fresh as it had been a few seconds ago. Sayuri sniffed, and the air smelled exactly the same--forest and some faint traces of people, but nothing else.  
  
Her heart sank into her feet. Was it all some sort of huge joke someone decided to play on her? Get her hopes up and then laugh as she dissolves into tears?  
  
"No," she growled, flexing her claws. "I'm gonna find that bird and rip it into nothing." It was probably watching her right now, she was sure. With an angry roar, she took off without a thought for her already worn out body.  
  
She had no idea where her burning legs carried her. All her broken hope served to fuel the fire of her anger, which she lent as strength to run. She tried to sniff out the bird, but she had not been paying attention to its scent when she first saw it, so she didn't know what to look for. Before she knew it, the moon was again grinning brilliantly overhead while Sayuri panted and heaved, hoping that her tears came only from exhaustion.  
  
She hugged her bag against her chest, closing her eyes against the balmy night.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Chirp chirp. Chirp chirp. Chirp chirp.  
  
"Hm?"  
  
Chirp chirp. Chirp chirp. Chirp chirp.  
  
Sayuri opened her eyes to the sound of crickets all around. She had forgotten about these noisy insects. They used to sing her lullabies back home. The sound wafted through her now like an old friend, comforting her in her lost dream.  
  
She sighed and got up again, glad that she rose so early. She should probably get moving so that she could again make progress, at least with distance. She had been in Inuyasha's Forest many times before, so she knew she would find no answers here. 'Again with no specific goals,' she thought unhappily.  
  
She found a path soon after that, and followed it after making sure that her bandages were again covering her hands. The crickets seemed to follow her, and for once she was glad of company. Soon she heard footsteps nearing her. She tensed for a moment, then relaxed. The smell denoted that it was human. Walking the opposite direction Sayuri was, the human's footsteps were small and scuffed the ground frequently-an old person. As she ascended the small hill, she finally saw the person she already knew something about. It was indeed an old woman, a very old woman. Her hair was long and completely gray, tied neatly in a low ponytail. She held a large basket full of plants in front of her that smelled sort of funny (Sayuri guessed that they were herbs). A black patch concealed one eye, and she dressed in miko's garb. She had a hard face, but Sayuri was inclined to believe she was very kind at heart.  
  
The woman didn't react to her much, just kept on walking past the young girl. But Sayuri could tell she was trying to conceal the difficulty with which she carried those plants. "May I help you with that, madam?" she asked in as polite a voice she could.  
  
The woman stopped where she stood and turned to consider Sayuri- -or Katsu, as it looked to her. "Ay, if ye think ye can handle it." She held her burden out to her and the demi-demon swayed under the weight.  
  
'She's stronger than she looks,' Sayuri observed as she followed the old woman down the road toward the village. Her voice sounded sort of familiar, but she brushed the feeling aside quickly. She didn't know anyone around here, other than Miroku, Sango, and their children.  
  
She barely had to enter the village at all to reach to old woman's home. It was a small hut, but more than enough for someone living alone. Sayuri felt a little sorry for her; the other people didn't look at her as a friend or grandmother; more like a superior. 'It must be very lonely,' she thought.  
  
"Lay them over there," the woman pointed to a far corner, and she obeyed. "Thank ye for your help, lad, but I'm afraid I have nothing for you."  
  
Sayuri blinked. "That's fine, madam." Funny- -she hadn't even been thinking of profit when she offered to help.  
  
"Just allow me to ask ye one thing," she said. "What does a youkai such as yourself want here?"  
  
She nearly lost her balance trying to bolt and wanting to stay and find out about this old miko who saw through her disguise, but curiosity won. "H- how did you know?" she stammered.  
  
"I know what to look for," she replied simply. "Are ye going to answer my question?"  
  
Sayuri sighed and answered resignedly, "To find my parents."  
  
"Have ye any idea where they are?"  
  
"Yeah. Dead."  
  
"Then that is a battle you will never win, my child."  
  
Staring at the ground, Sayuri began a new question. "Can you answer mine now? What is your name, madam?"  
  
"I am Kaede."  
  
The girl looked up, pain written clearly on her face as she said, "Farewell, Madam Kaede."  
  
And she walked out again. As soon as she was out on the path again, she realized something. Kaede's voice was familiar! She had definitely heard it before. And the name, as well-had Sayuri ever known a Kaede? Kaede, Kaede . . .  
  
Sayuri froze. Yes, she did know a Kaede, when she was very small. She had indeed been kind, despite her toughened appearance. Yet that miko Kaede died when she was two years old . . .  
  
She gasped and clapped her hands to her face. The hairs on the back of her neck rose high and her heart again soared with anticipation. She found the amulet still around her neck and kissed it loudly.  
  
Sayuri had finally found the past. Jumping and skipping down the road for a long time, she whooped and screamed in delight, not caring who heard. Her goal was reached, her journey was done. Or was it, she thought suddenly, putting a damper on her joy. Sure, time travel was half the battle, but so was actually finding these people. Her heart gave a leap just thinking that her parents were alive. Alive! But that also meant they were traveling, as they usually were. Sango often told Sayuri stories of their adventures (the edited version, she was sure), and so she knew much of their habits. 'Where are they now?' she wondered, looking around as if expecting to see them.  
  
"I'm going to end up doing the same thing I was, just in a different time. Just wandering around with barely any purpose." She mused. "Oh, well. Best get started wandering!" she finished cheerfully.  
  
With a new spring in her step, she continued forward, searching for the people that just waited to be found.  
  
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Author's Note: Sorry for the shortness, but I felt that this was a good ending to the chapter. Writing this is so much fun! I can't wait till I finish the next chapter-guess who's in it! YES! Everybody's favorite dog- demon! Must touch cute ears . . . ^_^ Till the next chapter! 


	3. Refused

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or anything having to do with that series. Darn. I do, however, own the character(s) I made up for this story, so no touchy.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
New Lilies  
  
By Alexa Gray  
  
Ch. 3  
  
Stupid people. Stupid, stupid people. 'Who do they think they are, hiding from me like this?!' Sayuri thought angrily at the grass wet with morning dew, staring at it from her comfortable position high in a tree. She had been searching for an entire two days and still nothing! She had always assumed that it would be rather easy to find them, but she was evidently wrong about that. The non-stop rush was killing her, and if she didn't see them soon she was going to do something crazy.  
  
Sayuri took a deep breath through her nose. Hmm. The clearing below her had been inhabited only a short time ago. Some humans, and (sniff sniff) a youkai or two. Nothing worth noting. As she began packing up to move on again, she found a familiar scent. It was a scent from memory, and it was different, but there was no mistaking it. Sango. She took it in eagerly, taking a piece of home into her nose. And what's that? Miroku, too! Yes, yes, she had found them!  
  
She took off, following those delicious scents from her past to the source. The trail was somewhat old and she lost it in places, but she would only pick it up once again.  
  
"What a bloodhound I am!" she giggled.  
  
This took some time, but since she ran while her prey apparently walked, she knew she would eventually catch up. 'Yes,' her heart sang, she would catch up with them soon. This much sprinting did not hurt her much; unshakeable joy filled her every bone and urged her on.  
  
The unfamiliar jumbled with the well-loved scents, and Sayuri halted on a lonely old road. They reached a crescendo here. Oh, they're near, so very near. But where? She felt herself becoming very anxious-what would she say? What would they say? She had pieced together a story to tell them, but what if they saw the lie in her eyes? No, they wouldn't. After all, it was basically true, even if it misled them. But (and this was a new worry) would they even like her? 'No,' she chastised herself. 'Of course they will.right?'  
  
Somehow Sayuri pushed away all of this to concentrate. 'Where is it?' She turned left, right, walked to either side of the path, sniffing the entire time. Finally, she groaned in frustration. 'Why can't I pinpoint it?! It must be my nerves.' She huffed and sat where she was. Her sense of smell had never failed her before; she realized her emotions must really be out of control. She simply had to calm down, as Miroku would say, or she couldn't accomplish what she wished to do. She took a deep breath and tried to loosen up.  
  
"THERE!" she exclaimed, leaping up and pointing into the shady forest to the right, then dashing toward it without hesitation. Securing her bag on her shoulder, she scanned for visual confirmation. Was that shape a person over there?! 'No, just a squirrel . . .' was her last thought as she ran square into a tree trunk and hit the damp ground unconscious.  
  
* * * * *  
  
A cool touch through the darkness. It wasn't dark for long, however, and soon blazing light was beating its way into Sayuri's eyes. She hissed at the sudden light, as well as the stinging liquid being pressed on her forehead. She almost smacked the hand away before even stopping to consider who it might be.  
  
"I know it hurts," came a pleasant-sounding voice. "But it'll make this cut heal faster."  
  
"Ung?!" she frantically tried to adjust her eyes to identify the dark silhouette against the sun. It was leaning over her with a hand dabbing something on her face. Her heart skipped. Then again. She could make out an angel's face through her grogginess. She raised a hand to touch the angel's heavenly white cheek, whispering almost inaudibly, "Is it really you?"  
  
"Huh?" She drew back with a confused look. "Do I know you?"  
  
She felt tears make their prickly entrance, but held them back as she realized: Yes. Yes, it was she. Her angel mother. Sayuri brought herself up on her elbows, staring at her kind face as she leaned back. Her breaths came uneven and quick. She felt like burying herself in this stranger's embrace, drinking in her sweet unfamiliar scent for eternity.  
  
But no. "No, you don't know me," she replied, her voice deceptively steady. "I'm sorry. You just look like someone I used to know."  
  
She lost her puzzlement and smiled. Oh, what a beautiful smile. Sayuri sat up and looked about. If she continued to look at her angel she would give in to her childish impulses. A creek flowed merrily beside her, and a breeze stirred the grass all around her. This small field was exceedingly picturesque, with wildflowers blooming every color despite the blinding heat.  
  
For the first time, she noticed other people standing and sitting near her. On the opposite side of her kind caregiver sat a kitsune child watching her curiously 'Hmm. Shippou really doesn't look much different,' thought Sayuri. Then she turned to an odd pair sitting beside each other on a newly fallen tree: a wise-looking young monk seeming to give all his attention to the girl sitting on the ground while actually looking at his companion from the corner of his eye, and the pretty young woman holding a gigantic boomerang behind her and keeping her wary gaze on his hands. Sayuri wanted to giggle seeing Miroku and Sango like this, and so young. Farther from them stood a boy, perhaps a few years older than her. 'No,' Sayuri corrected. 'He's a man.' She knew his appearance well, for he haunted her every dream in what she thought he looked like. But no vision could have prepared her for the real thing.  
  
The man's long hair looked as careless as the breeze that lifted it, shining like the moon on a fat, lazy night. He had his arms crossed and wore a scowl on his handsome face, but Sayuri's fingers twitched with the desire to touch him and know he was real. Clothes the color of blood wrapped his slender form in courage, completed by a sword at his side. But his eyes.Oh, his eyes. The most magnificent part of this magnificent creature. Glory and rage colored their sparkling depths gold, while a most intense sorrow teemed deep within, countered by joy the likes Sayuri had never seen: it was wild, young, reckless, but so very distrustful. The eyes distrusted anything they saw, as if it would take away their precarious happiness.  
  
Sayuri thought she knew what made him happy.  
  
But before she could ponder further, there was a red blur and she found herself held roughly by her shirtfront and lifted from the ground by a very angry looking dog-demon. A cry lodged itself in her throat as she grabbed his hand and tried vainly to pry him off while her feet searched sightlessly for something to stand on.  
  
"Why were you following us?" was his deadly snarl.  
  
"I-" she choked out.  
  
He shook her, repeating, "Why?! Answer me!"  
  
She struggled to speak, for his grasp on her felt as if it were slowly strangling her.  
  
"SIT!"  
  
Without warning Sayuri was suddenly standing on solid ground again looking down at her assailant facedown in a body-shaped hole. Muffled curses found their way into the air.  
  
The angel stood as well, and gave her an apologetic smile. "Sorry about Inuyasha. He's a real jerk sometimes." She turned to her still-swearing victim. "I can't believe you could just pick on a kid like that! And he's hurt, too!"  
  
As soon as he was able to, Inuyasha got to his feet and began yelling again. "Didn't you hear what I said, wench?! This 'kid' has been following us for a few days now!" he glared and lowered his voice to a growl. "A lackey of Naraku's, I'll bet."  
  
Sayuri took a step backward. She had never imagined this would happen. She hid her claws behind her back, wincing at the same time; even if she had remembered to put her bandages on, Inuyasha could probably smell her demon blood a mile away.  
  
"Now, now, Inuyasha," Miroku spoke up for the first time, his smooth voice very welcome with Sayuri. "Calm down." He stood and came closer to her. "What is your name?"  
  
"Katsu," she answered reflexively.  
  
"I am sure that Katsu means us no harm. After all, do you sense any Shikon shards on him, Kagome?"  
  
Kagome paused, then shook her head. Sayuri made a mental note to make certain to think of her that way, so that she did not slip and address her as 'Miss Angel' or some similar nonsense.  
  
"And does he seem the type that Naraku would employ, Inuyasha? After all, we only found him at all because he was knocked out by a tree. A stationary, obvious object. I'm sure Naraku would set his standards a bit higher than Katsu."  
  
Sayuri didn't like what he was implying at all, but she was certainly glad he was doing it. Good, good Miroku-always the voice of reason. He had settled many a squabble among his children.  
  
Inuyasha seemed to concede on that point, but argued, "That still doesn't explain why he was following us," he told Miroku, eyes still on at Sayuri.  
  
'Here is where my story comes into play,' she thought. "You are Inuyasha, correct?" she said out loud, making some polite gestures.  
  
"Yeah. Whaddya want from me?"  
  
"I have heard that you are seeking that dreg of humanity Naraku, and I seem to be right." Sayuri had never said his name before this, but it left a bad taste in her mouth, and she narrowed her eyes in loathing at the sound. "You see, before I was born." she paused, trying to calm down. If her heartbeat quickened or if she began to sweat anymore than what was reasonable in this weather, Inuyasha would know she was at least misleading them. "Before I was born, Naraku killed my father. I think it was heartbreak that killed my mother."  
  
Kagome gave a small exhale heavy with pity. "I'm sorry," she said softly.  
  
Sayuri glanced up from the ground to look at her. "Sorry? It's not your fault." But she could tell Inuyasha grew more impatient with each passing moment, so she continued: "Well, now that I am grown, I want revenge for what was taken from me before I could appreciate it. I thought that I could have a better chance with a group, so that is why I sought you out. I didn't come to you right away because I wanted to be cautious. With good reason, I see now," she chuckled nervously, rubbing her neck.  
  
Inuyasha's scowl didn't fade.  
  
"Heh heh. Anyway, I want to humbly ask if I could join your mission to slay Naraku."  
  
Crossing his arms, Inuyasha responded with a short "No."  
  
Sayuri felt her face contort into a ridiculous expression of shock and sputtered, "What?! Why?!"  
  
He snorted. "Hate to be the one to break it to you, but you aren't grown, kid. You wouldn't stand a chance. Besides, this ain't no club. You can't just come up and join whenever the hell you feel like it. We all got our problems, but you don't see me cryin' about mine, do ya?"  
  
Shaking her head in slight annoyance, she held her clawed hands up. "Where do you think I came from? I have been protecting myself all this time, sir."  
  
He grabbed one hand and touched a claw with his fingertip, as if testing their authenticity. "Youkai, are you? Well, that may be so, but like I said, this ain't no club. And you can't expect us to look out for you, ya know? Why should I protect someone I don't even know anyway?"  
  
"Hell no!" Sayuri heard herself shout "Hell no! I've been looking for you for three years out of my short life, and you tell me 'this ain't no club'?!" There was no way that Sayuri was going to let this guy walk all over her like she was some child and get away with it. She stomped up to him and, though she was a half a head shorter, found a way to get face to face with him. "Let me tell you something," she said, her voice dripping venom. "I could have been at home. No, I was looking for you. I could have been with friends. No, I was alone, thinking about the day I would join you and hunt that bastard down like the dog he is. I could have been protected. No, I was fighting youkai for my life left and right, knowing that someday, I was gonna find you and it would all be worth it." She paused, and quieted. "But apparently you aren't who I thought you were."  
  
Inuyasha scoffed, seemingly unfazed. "And who did you think I was?"  
  
"A hero," she replied softly, and began walking away.  
  
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Author's Note: I realized that calling Sayuri a hanyou was just plain lazy, so I changed that. Even if you have reviewed before, do it again. I really, really like those things. 


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